Some Things Never Change
by ChaPow
Summary: After a hard case, Reid starts to question whether or not he can do his job. Luckily Morgan can shed some light on the subject! One-shot!


**This is my first story so just see what you think and leave any comments, good or bad!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Criminal Minds characters but if I did I would keep Reid with me so nothing bad ever happened to my little G-Man :)**

With a grunt, Reid heaved his bag into the trunk of the black SUV and slammed the lid shut. He paused for a moment, contemplating something, then let out a weary sigh and the door to the back seat and got in. He felt the car start up with a rumbling purr that was strangly soothing, and smoothly pull out from in front of the Texas State Police Station as he relaxed enough to sink into his thoughts. He couldn't get the crime scene photos out of his head though this was nothing new; his job had always been stressful but this case was particularly gruesome. A troubled, young man called Joshua Hicks murdered 11 teenage boys all within a span of two weeks as some kind of mercy killings. All 11 boys had been bullied and tormented by their peers from school and Hicks, having a similar experience that left him mentally ill, believed he was doing them a favour by taking their life. Reid shook his head; he could understand that. After all he fell victim to the cruelty of the Jock and the Cheerleaders, being a 12 yr old Genius in a Las Vegas high school.

"…eid, Reid, hey pretty boy!" A deep, masculine voice brought Reid out of the fog of suppressed memories swirling around his mind and to the present where 3 pairs of concerned eyes watched him. He glanced at each of them for a moment; Rossi was sitting in the drivers seat watching him in the rear-view mirror, JJ had twisted around in the passenger seat to get a closer look at him, and then of course there was the voice that brought him out of his musings, Morgan, who was sitting in the back seat with him. No words needed to be said because JJ's baby blue eyes, Rossi's questioning eyebrow and Morgan's searching gaze asked the question for them. Quickly breaking eye contact with his three teammates he looked out the window before replying quietly.

"I'm fine".

"Come on, pretty boy. Are you sure there is nothing bothering you" Morgan asked. Reid pursed his lips in thought, debating whether or not to tell them what was really bothering him. The decision was made for him. JJ had reached into her pocket and was currently waving around her black Motorola in front of his face.

"Hey Spence, if you don't tell us, I could always call Garcia and ask her to find out what's bothering her little G-man" she said, with an evil twinkle in her eye. Reid lunged forward and tried to take the phone out of her hand, which she pulled just out of reach. He gave up with a dramatic huff and held his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"Okay, Okay I'll tell you. No need to do anything drastic" he said in a pained voice. JJ gave a little victorious smile before replacing her phone again. Rossi glanced into the rear-mirror again to give Reid a 'she's-got-you-whipped' look and Morgan's quiet chuckle could be heard in the background, the dark-skinned man shaking his head with a large smile stretching his lips. Reid rolled his eyes but couldn't stop his mouth from twitching into a hint of a smile. He could imagine just how Garcia would react; dragging him into her lair of technology with her blonde hair bouncing around in her pigtails before bringing out her giant box of biscuits and the Bridget Jones' Diary DVD. Reid ran a slender hand through his long, chestnut-brown hair and looked out the window again. There was silence in the car for a moment, before Reid decided to speak.

"Sometimes, I just wonder if we are doing the right thing". When the others gave him a confused look in response he scrambled to explain. "I mean I sometimes wonder if we are punishing the right people like, for example, Hicks. He was just an average guy who was bullied to the point that he was bashed on the head that gave him severe mental illnesses and all he wanted to do was help those boys, admittedly there are better ways of doing that, I mean he could have gone to therapy or moved away to start a new life and what about all those other people we couldn't save like all those victims, children, men, women, why could we not save them and how many more cases are we going to be able to work before we can never stop seeing the victims faces in our nightmares and…"

"REID. Calm down" Morgan instructed, placing his hand on Reid's shoulder. Reid took a deep breathe to calm himself down from that rant. He glanced around the car again and saw that none of the teammates seem surprised about this development. Rossi had slowly turned his attention back to the road but his face softened from its usual rough and sharp expression to one of understanding and calmness. JJ's eyes were sad as she watched him regain control of his composure and her smile was like that of a sister giving a younger sibling comfort. Morgan seemed to be considering what he said before looking at him again and giving a huge sigh.

"Reid, there's not a lot I can tell you. Sometimes I ask myself the same question; what are we doing, did we do everything right, could things have gone differently? I ask myself that all the time. And as for the other cases… there will always be another case! And just like the last one, we will be there to catch the unsub, to put him where he belongs, whether it's in a mental hospital to get help or in a prison. Either way you need to remember that, whatever happens, all the people we do save get to carry on with their lives and its all thanks to you Pretty Boy." Morgan finished his little speech with a ruffling of Reid's hair, before exciting the car. Startled, Reid glanced out of the window to see that they had arrived in front of the BAU headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. Rossi and JJ had gone over to talk to Prentiss and Hotch who had arrived just minutes behind them in their SUV. Quickly stepping out of the SUV, Reid grabbed his Go-Bag from the trunk and hurried after the retreating back of Morgan as he entered the headquarters. Bumping into a couple of other agents, Reid stumbling over his apologies, he caught up with Morgan just before he stepped into the lift.

"Don't you ever consider doing anything different with your life, I mean, there must be anything you could do that must be better than what we see here everyday" Reid questioned as they stood side by side as the elevator started moving. He was biting his bottom lip in a nervous gesture and was fiddling with his watch as it lay on top of his sleeve facing the inside of his arm. Morgan glanced at him before returning his attention to the lift doors.

"Of course I consider it".

"Then why don't you?"

"Because I like my job". Reid paused for a moment, mouth hanging open slightly. He obviously hadn't expected that answer. Too caught up in his thoughts, he once again failed to notice Morgan heading out of the lift. Cursing, he jogged to catch up with him as he walked into the bullpen, his satchel swinging from his shoulder. He almost bumped into him when Morgan stopped suddenly and turned around to look at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Despite his profiling abilities, he found it incredibly frustrating and annoying that he found trying to read his teammates facial expressions so difficult while he was like an open book. In hindsight, he could see that they managed to hide their emotions because they were profilers and knew what other profilers to look for but he still had difficulty in doing the same. Morgan twisted his body to face him completely before sitting casually on the side of Reid's desk, one foot positioned on the wheely chair with his elbow resting on top.

"You're confused. I can see that. Your young and you have seen many horrible things that you shouldn't have. I can see from the dark shadows under yours eyes and the way you keep running your hand through your hair that you haven't slept properly in a while, probably from nightmares and are feeling the strain this job gives you" Morgan stated calmly. The hand that had just been lifted up to run through messy curls froze and slowly returned to its position at Reid's hip. He looked down almost guiltily and Morgan suddenly realised how young he looked. He tapped Reid on his bowed head to get him to look at him and smiled gently at the man he considered his 'little brother'.

"It's nothing to be ashamed off. Listen, if this job gets too much for you and you need someone to talk to you can always come to me okay. You can even go to talk to JJ, Prentiss, and of course you can always talk to my baby girl". Reid chuckled slightly at Morgan's nickname for Garcia and nodded. There was silence for a moment before Morgan grinned and let out a throaty chuckle. He grabbed Reid in a headlock and started messing up his hair.

"HEY WHAT THE…. MORGAN CUT IT OUT" Reid coughed out, gripping Morgan's muscled arm and trying to push it away while simultaneously trying to pull his head out.

"Not a chance kid" Morgan chuckled and started dragging Reid out of the bullpen, other agents staring at the odd sight. Finally breaking free and creating distance between them for safety, he continued following Morgan and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Kid, your coming out to get some drinks with me. You need to experience life, not waste it sitting at home playing with your star trek figurines".

"I do not have Star Trek Figurines" Reid exclaimed, insulted. Their was silence, the only sound was their footsteps and then "Did you know that the Martin Luther King Jr. talked Nichelle Nichols, who played the character Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek, out of leaving the show…". Morgan rolled his eyes and smiled to himself as he shook his head, the sound of Reid chatting animatedly behind him as they walked. Despite all the things they experienced while doing this job, it was nice to know that some things never changed.

**Thanks for checking out my story.**

**And finally, here is some good old fashioned advice before I go: On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key! XD**

**Review Please.**


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